Posted on 05/18/2014 4:04:06 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Edited on 05/18/2014 5:27:10 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
DirecTV, the No. 1 U.S. satellite TV operator, said on Sunday it has agreed to sell itself to AT&T for $48.5 billion, in the second mega-deal to shake up the U.S. television landscape this year.
The deal with Dallas-based AT&T, which has some TV and broadband services, is the latest in a string of big takeovers the wireless operator has considered. Those include an abortive bid for T-Mobile USA in 2011, as well as a potential takeover of Vodafone Plc that receded as a possibility after Comcast Corp surprised the industry this year with a $45 billion bid for Time Warner Cable Inc.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
people still pay for tv?
Another monopoly in the making.
Yeah, this probably won’t end well.
Wow. They stopped pussy footing around and did something.
Having had terrible service and customer service experiences with both, I’d have to say customers of each should notice no real change in quality. Except for the inevitable price hikes as two television providers become one and market competition is further reduced.
The end result for video services is going to be ugly.
A few consolidators may own all the major distribution channels like satellite and cable and think it’s a stranglehold. It isn’t.
They key to televisions future lies in unlimited broadband and the set top box. Think Roku, Fire TV and Apple TV.
Bundled and wide ranging television packages are going to die a horrid death. I do question the regulatory approval for this but this type of consolidation is truly desperate when you look at the fact that anyone under the age of 20 has figured out how to watch anything they want without cable or satellite.
>>They key to televisions future lies in unlimited broadband and the set top box. Think Roku, Fire TV and Apple TV.<<
Yep.
I still am terrestrial (mostly my ATT bundle is the best deal in my area, but I missed DirectTV a LOT).
But when I feel the value isn’t there, I will cancel and go to a pull model (also Netflix — and YouTube has hundreds of thousands of full episodes of shows of the types I love).
Add this to the Comcast merger of Time Warner Cable, and what will you get $200 cable bills real soon.
soon?
There goes the neighborhood.
The combination of Comcast and NBCU is far more troubling than the ATT/DirecTV deal. Comcast’s control of channel availability, content and delivery system makes it the closest of all to a true monopoly.
That's happening already with shows on stations that aren't on free antenna TV. Free TV will exist, but the content will get even worse.
62.1 million American homes subscribed to basic cable
I feel like this isn’t good.
“people still pay for tv?”
LOL, I find this funny too. You can watch any movie or series free, including any sport on the web as long as you have a fast web connection. All you need is a pc or laptop.
Back before the Government-Business complex became what it is, this kind of deal would have been DOA.
If wasn’t for Deadliest Catch and Duck Dynasty I would cut the core with Verzion FIOS long time ago
Hey I still have my regular tv set I been watching lots more Antenna TV, ME TV This TV Movies tv network Gettv and the Works channel also Cozi TV on so called regular tv
I guess I find this purchase odd since AT&T is pushing their u-verse service. (at least around here)
I guess it could be part of a long range plan to put DirectTV out of business and drive customers to u-verse?
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